Russia’s Lavrov Hints at Possible Prisoner Swap for Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov spoke Tuesday about a possible prisoner swap involving two Americans detained in Russia, Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Speaking at a press conference at the United Nations, Mr. Lavrov said that a channel to discuss detained American and Russian citizens was created when President Biden and the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, meet in Geneva in 2021. Lavrov said, the channel does not provide “for the involvement of journalists.”

“This work is unusual in nature and publicity here will only complicate the process,” Mr. Lavrov said at the United Nations, where Russia is wrapping up a controversial monthlong stint as president of the Security Council, a rotating position.

Mr Lavrov said several Americans were serving prison sentences in Russia for various crimes, but Mr Whelan and Mr Gershkovich had been detained “while they were committing crimes, receiving material” that was classified as state secrets.

Russia has provided no evidence of the allegations against Mr. Gershkovich. Mr Whelan, a former US Marine, was detained minutes after being handed a USB stick by a Russian acquaintance which Russia maintains contains a secret list of security agents. The Biden administration has classified the two men as “wrongfully detained,” the equivalent of political prisoners.

Mr. Lavrov said that Russia rejects the notion that journalists do not commit crimes, apparently making reference to the phrase “journalism is not a crime” that press advocacy groups often quote in their campaign to free journalists detained around the world, like Mr. Gershkovich.

Mr. Gershkovich, who was on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg, was arrested on March 29 and charged with espionage, a charge that his employer and the United States have vehemently denied. He was formally charged on April 7, and remains in custody at Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison, a detention center where prisoners are held in solitary confinement and receive only rare visits from lawyers.

Mr Whelan was arrested in December 2018, then tried and sentenced. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The United States has agreed to a prisoner exchange with Russia recently to release detained Americans – notably for WNBA star Brittney Griner, in December, and Trevor Reed, a former US Marine, in April 2022.